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TECHNOLOGY
The best low-e glass and blinds still let in 30 percent of the solar heat. Dynamic glass offered a chance to tackle this heat and lower the strain on the airport's HVAC system in the terminal.
"This opened up the possibility to solve some real problems and find singular solutions that have the biggest stakeholder impact," he said.
A 2017 study showed office workers in buildings with dynamic glass were more productive and didn't suffer as much with eye strain while reading electronic devices.
"While it's hard to measure productivity while sitting at a gate, it's pretty indicative that we may be addressing some of the comfort and health and wellness issues of passengers who are waiting for their plane to board," Tinianov said.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) installed dynamic glass in Terminal 1 and Tinianov said leaders there discovered there was ability to downsize the HVAC system within the terminal to reduce greenhouse gas benefits.
Tinianov said the dynamic glass was put in place at Twisted Root and at gate A28. They compared passenger experiences with travelers boarding at gate A25 with unmodified glass to see what impact the glass had via surveys.
The project showed the temperature reaching 90 degrees within the seating areas by the standard low-e glass. The seats by the dynamic glass were 10 to 15 degrees cooler, creating a more comfortable passenger experience.
The study shows at the dynamic glass gate saw passenger dwell time increase by 53 percent. Those passengers also had a 15 percent higher spend than those at the gate with regular glass.
Horton said they also discovered the sun glare and solar heat extends even further into the building because of its positioning.
"The premise was to really study the impact from what we had learned in office environments and see if this applied to airports," Tinianov said.
DFW is a unique testing environment because of its design. With five semicircle-shaped terminals, Tinianov said you have every orientation of the sun shining in throughout the day. The facility uses quality glass, but also doesn't utilize shades.
INFLUENCE PASSENGER BEHAVIOR
A survey of passengers showed having a view of the outside was the No. 1 factor in choosing where to sit in the terminal, Tinianov said, even outranking access to an outlet or bathroom.
"People love sitting where they have a view," he said. "People love to have a view where they can see the planes landing or see the plane they're boarding or planes taking off."
Cameras were installed at the gates to capture traveler behavior during the trial. There were also 500 surveys issued to passengers by a third party firm to get feedback from travelers on why they chose where to sit.
"In essence, it's transition lenses for your building."
BRANDON TINIANOV, VICE PRESIDENT OF INDUSTRY STRATEGY FOR VIEW INC.
Observation of passengers at gate A25 showed travelers were willing to sit closer to each other at a gate with dynamic glass.
View Inc.
May 2018 airportbusiness 13